This invention relates to an improved screw holding and driving tool which has a transparent sleeve to permit a user to see a screw and screwdriver bit as the screw is being driven with a powered drill.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,658 the inventor disclosed a screw holding and driving device having a shank secured at one end to a handle and a screw driving bit mounted at a second end of the shank. A sleeve is positioned in surrounding relation to the shank and sized to slidably rotate around the shank and to slidably move in a longitudinal direction with respect to the shank. The sleeve is used to hold a screw head during the driving operation. Retaining means are provided to hold the sleeve on the shank.
The inventor has also been marketing a screw holding and driving tool having a drive shaft with a shank at one end to be received by a chuck of a powered drill and with a socket at the other end for receiving a socket bit. An opaque sleeve is positioned in surrounding relation to the driver shaft and is sized to slidably rotate around the shank and to slidably move in a longitudinal direction with respect to the shank. This tool is being marketed under the tradename FINDER/DRIVER.
A problem has arisen in that an operator can neither see the position of the screw nor easily determine the angle, speed, or depth that the screw is driven when driving a screw into a work piece. A simple substitution of transparent materials for the opaque outer sleeve has proved ineffective because the stationary sleeve gets scratched as the drive shank rotates to drive a screw. In addition, conventional split retaining rings used with screw holding and driving devices for holding the sleeve on the shank have exposed ends that scratch the inner surfaces of the sleeve as the drive shank rotates or when the sleeve is moved from the extended to the retracted position or vice versa. The combination of scratching from the rotation of the shank inside the sleeve, and the scratching from the extension and retraction of the sleeve has made it impossible to make a simple substitution of materials.
A need exists for a screw holding and driving device having a transparent sleeve which will resist scratching. Further, a need exists for a retaining device, used to hold the sleeve on the shank, constructed so as to operate without scratching the sleeve as the shank is rotated, or as the sleeve is extended or retracted.